Star Wars Celebration 2025 began with a shocking bang when Shawn Levy’s Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling, Star Wars: Starfighter, was announced—but what does that mean for Rey’s Star Wars movie? There had been major rumors that Ryan Gosling was in talks with Star Wars, and in the days leading up to Star Wars Celebration, those rumors even turned directly toward Levy’s movie. However, of all the Star Wars Celebration 2025 reveals thus far, this still felt like one of the most surprising.

This became even more shocking when it was confirmed that Starfighter will be the next Star Wars movie released after The Mandalorian and Grogu, as Starfighter’s release date is set for May 28, 2027. Yet, this has raised major questions about Rey’s Star Wars movie, rumored to be тιтled Star Wars: New Jedi Order. There were already many rumors the movie was delayed or even canceled, and while that’s not confirmed, the announcement of Starfighter does beg the question: why are we getting Ryan Gosling’s movie before New Jedi Order, when the latter was announced years ago?

Daisy Ridley’s Star Wars Movie Was Announced Two Years Ago

New Jedi Order Was Among The Star Wars Celebration 2023 Announcements

At Star Wars Celebration 2023, Lucasfilm announced that Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the sequel trilogy, would be returning to Star Wars in a brand-new movie. Although details were sparse at the time, which is typical of Star Wars announcements, it was even confirmed that New Jedi Order would take place 15 years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in the Star Wars timeline. This announcement heavily hinted that Star Wars movies and TV shows were truly about to move on from the Skywalker Saga.

Ridley has consistently been asked about the movie’s progress in interviews because many were expecting Star Wars to have updates on the story, the characters, and a timeline over the last two years. Surprisingly, though, Star Wars has seemingly made very little progress on Rey’s movie. This was evident even before Star Wars Celebration, given New Jedi Order has already changed writers—from Steven Knight initially to George Nolfi now—and the fact that Ridley repeatedly said she hadn’t seen a script yet.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the progress (or lack thereof) on New Jedi Order, though, has been the glaring absence of any mentions of the movie from most of Star Wars Celebration 2025’s panels, announcements, and discussions. Rey’s movie has been mentioned in pᴀssing, but it has been far from a focal point. This is a major change from Star Wars Celebration 2023, at which Ridley was a major guest. Evidently, Star Wars isn’t in a rush with Rey’s movie—but why?

The Stakes Are Higher With Rey

Realistically, Star Wars Has A Lot More Riding On New Jedi Order

For better or worse, and whether it’s fair or not, the baggage that is inevitably going to come with Rey’s Star Wars movie is likely a factor in the timing of Star Wars’ movie releases. The sequel trilogy remains perhaps the single most controversial addition to Star Wars in the franchise’s nearly 50-year history, and many consider those movies to be among Star Wars’ worst movies. The sad reality is, no matter what Star Wars does with New Jedi Order, it is guaranteed to suffer from at least some backlash.

That isn’t meant to be defeatist, nor do I think it’s reasonable for audiences to reject a new Rey movie before they even know what it’s about, but it’s difficult to imagine that isn’t front of mind for Lucasfilm as they are deciding the release order for the franchise’s new movies. On the flip side of this, though, Lucasfilm has indicated that Rey is incredibly important to the future of the franchise. Reportedly, Lucasfilm considers Rey their most valuable cinematic ᴀsset. If true, then this concern about Rey is as much a positive as it is a negative.

In both cases, the stakes are simply much lower for Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars movie, especially because it has already been confirmed to be a standalone movie. The franchise will not be riding on the success of Starfighter, and while Star Wars will of course want that movie to do well, it isn’t quite the same demand that New Jedi Order will bring. In fact, even outside Rey’s importance as a character, this movie would presumably define the future of Star Wars by establishing the franchise’s new Jedi Order—the first on screen since the prequels.

It’s Surely Only A Matter Of Time Before The New Jedi Order Is Unveiled

A New Jedi Order Feels Inevitable Either Way

Truthfully, it is only a matter of time before Star Wars introduces a new Jedi Order, be it in a movie focused on Rey with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy at the helm or another project entirely. Yes, Star Wars has made progress in recent years to look beyond just the Jedi and the Sith, but the Jedi will always be an essential part of Star Wars. With entire decades having pᴀssed (within Star Wars itself but in real life as well) since the last time there was a full-fledged Jedi Order, it’s more than time for this return.

Personally, I remain hopeful this will be Rey’s movie, and I don’t mind Star Wars taking time to get this story right. In fact, there have been rumors specifically regarding Star Wars taking a bit longer with New Jedi Order because there are a number of story possibilities for Rey currently on the table. While the news from Star Wars Celebration 2025 that Star Wars: Starfighter will be the next movie released after The Mandalorian and Grogu was genuinely shocking, it makes sense that Star Wars is timing its new movies this way.

Check out more of our Star Wars Celebration coverage:

• Star Wars Celebration: All Panels & Times
• Star Wars Celebration Live Blog Day 2 – Ahsoka & Andor Panel Updates
• Star Wars Celebration:Live Blog Day 1 – The Mandalorian & Grogu and Lucasfilm Animation Updates
• All 8 Things We Just Learned About The Next Star Wars Movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu
• Star Wars Starfighter Announced: Next Star Wars Movie Releases In 2027, Five Years After Rise Of Skywalker & Stars Ryan Gosling
• Darth Maul Returns In First Look At Maul: Shadow Lord, New TV Show That Fulfils George Lucas’ Sequel Trilogy Plans